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About Naked, Drunk, and Writing

The material is right there in front of you. You’ve known yourself for, well, a lifetime—and you finally feel ready to share your story with the world. Yet when it actually comes time to put pen to paper, you find that you’re stumped.

Naked, Drunk, and Writing is the culmination of Lara’s vast experience as a writer, editor, and teacher. It is packed with insights and advice both practical (“writing workshops you pay for are the best–it’s too easy to quit when you’ve made no investment”) and irreverent (“apply Part A [butt] to Part B [chair]”), answering such important questions as:

• How do I know where to start my piece and where to end it? • How do I make myself write when I’m too scared or lazy or busy?• What makes a good pitch letter, and how do I get mine noticed?• I’m ready to publish—now where do I find an agent?• If I show my manuscript to my mother, will I ever be invited to a family gathering again?

As thorough and instructive as a personal writing coach (and cheaper, too), Naked, Drunk, and Writing is a must-have if you are an aspiring columnist, essayist, or memoirist—or just a writer who needs a bit of help in getting your story told.

About Naked, Drunk, and Writing

The material is right there in front of you. You’ve known yourself for, well, a lifetime—and you finally feel ready to share your story with the world. Yet when it actually comes time to put pen to paper, you find that you’re stumped.

Naked, Drunk, and Writing is the culmination of Lara’s vast experience as a writer, editor, and teacher. It is packed with insights and advice both practical (“writing workshops you pay for are the best–it’s too easy to quit when you’ve made no investment”) and irreverent (“apply Part A [butt] to Part B [chair]”), answering such important questions as:

• How do I know where to start my piece and where to end it? • How do I make myself write when I’m too scared or lazy or busy?• What makes a good pitch letter, and how do I get mine noticed?• I’m ready to publish—now where do I find an agent?• If I show my manuscript to my mother, will I ever be invited to a family gathering again?

As thorough and instructive as a personal writing coach (and cheaper, too), Naked, Drunk, and Writing is a must-have if you are an aspiring columnist, essayist, or memoirist—or just a writer who needs a bit of help in getting your story told.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Praise

“Very savvy and smart and hugely entertaining.”–ANNE LAMOTT, author of Bird by Bird

Table Of Contents

Part I: Writing Down Your Stories 1 one That Which Is Most Personal Is Most Common 2 two Hot Heart, Cold Eye: The Inconvenient Importance of Craft 8

Part II: The Personal Essay 11 three Elements of the Successful Essay 12 KEEP IT SMALL | 13 WHAT QUESTION DRIVES YOUR ESSAY? | 14 WRITE ABOUT THE MOMENT SOMETHING CHANGED | 15 BUILD THE ESSAY | 19 OUTLINE THE ESSAY | 22 WRITE THE EPIPHANY | 24 four What’s Your Angle? 34 YOU HAVE A SUBJECT—BUT DO YOU HAVE AN ANGLE? | 35 HOW TO FIND AN ANGLE | 37 HOW TO USE SETUP | 40

Part III: Techniques and Practices for Essay and Memoir 43 five Tone: How to Assert a Specific Temperament 45 ARE YOU FUNNY? | 47 BE A SCREWUP | 54 WATCH YOUR TONE | 56 FINDING YOUR VOICE: DO YOU SOUND LIKE YOU? | 59six Image: The Luminosity of the Particular 62 USE YOUR SENSES | 65 BUILD IMAGES WITH SPECIFIC DETAILS | 69 THE DREAD NECESSITY OF INNER EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE | 75 seven How to Trick Yourself into Writing 80 APPLY PART A (BUTT) TO PART B (CHAIR) | 82 WRITE EVERY DAY | 85 NO TIME TO WRITE? CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY | 86 LOWER YOUR STANDARDS | 87 eight It Takes a Village: Working with Other Writers 90 HOW WRITING PARTNERS MAKE YOU WRITE | 91 HOW THE WRITING PARTNERSHIP WORKS | 93 TAKE CLASSES | 96 JOIN A GROUP | 98 FEEDBACK: HOW TO GIVE IT | 100 FEEDBACK: HOW TO TAKE IT | 104 nine Revising Rewriting Your Work 108 STEP BACK FROM YOUR DRAFT | 110 FIX THE BEGINNING | 112 FIX THE ENDING | 114 FIX IN GENERAL | 116 FIX THE SENTENCES | 121 HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU’RE FINISHED? | 126

About Adair Lara

ADAIR LARA wrote a weekly column for the San Francisco Chronicle for twelve years and won the Associated Press Award for Best Columnist in California. Lara currently teaches at Mills College and leads sold-out writing workshops.

About Adair Lara

ADAIR LARA wrote a weekly column for the San Francisco Chronicle for twelve years and won the Associated Press Award for Best Columnist in California. Lara currently teaches at Mills College and leads sold-out writing workshops.